Lambton Collieries was a
privately owned colliery and coal mining company, based in
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly â€About North East E ...
, England.
History
The name derives from
Lambton Castle
Lambton Castle stands above Chester-le-Street, County Durham and is a stately home, the ancestral seat of the Lambton family, the Earls of Durham. It is listed in the mid-category of listed building, Grade II*.
History
Largely constructed a ...
, the ancestral family home of the Lambton family.
[
With coal having been extracted in the area from the 1600s, the commercial extraction of coal was developed by ]John Lambton
General John Lambton (26 July 1710 – 22 March 1794) of Harraton Hall, later of Lambton Castle, County Durham, was a senior officer in the British Army and a Member of Parliament.
Life
Lambton was the fourth son of Ralph Lambton (c. 1651–1 ...
in the lands surrounding the castle through the Wear Valley
Wear Valley was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England. Its council and district capital was Crook.
The district covered much of the Weardale area. In the west it was parished and rural, whereas in the eas ...
. The first of seven pits was sunk in the village of Bournmoor from 1783 onwards, which together were to make up what was known as Lambton Colliery.
The company was first formed when Lambton's grandson, John Lambton
General John Lambton (26 July 1710 – 22 March 1794) of Harraton Hall, later of Lambton Castle, County Durham, was a senior officer in the British Army and a Member of Parliament.
Life
Lambton was the fourth son of Ralph Lambton (c. 1651–1 ...
the first Earl of Durham
Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Gre ...
, entered Parliament as a Whig politician.[thepeerage.com John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham]
/ref> The formal name change to Lambton Collieries was adopted in 1896.
In 1910 the company merged with Hetton Collieries to form Lambton & Hetton Collieries. In 1924, that company merged with Joicey Collieries to form Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries.
In 1947, along with all of the other private coal companies of the United Kingdom, it was nationalised under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946
The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act of 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6 c. 59) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or brought into state control, the coal industry in the United Kingdom. It established the National Coal B ...
to form the National Coal Board
The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...
.
Lambton Railway
To enable the coal extracted from the collieries to be transported to the River Wear
The River Wear (, ) in North East England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers, wends in a steep valley through th ...
, from 1737 the company had constructed a horse-drawn tramway from Fatfield
Fatfield is an area of Washington, Tyne and Wear, England.
The southern part of the village by the River Wear is popular for country walks and the three public houses and working men's club on the banks of the river. The site of the original vil ...
to Cox Green. In 1819 the Lambton's bought the Newbottle wagonway, and connected this to the Lambton Railway
The Lambton Railway was a private industrial railway in County Durham, England, constructed initially as a tramway (industrial), tramway from 1737, to enable coal to be transported from Lambton Collieries to the Port of Sunderland. It closed und ...
with a line between Bournmoor and Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. This now meant that the company had a direct route from its collieries to the River Wear, where it constructed Lambton Staithes within the Port of Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
.[
The company went steam powered from 1814, initially with a series of 0-6-0T locomotives. However, due to the steepness of the route over ]Warden Law
Warden Law is a village and civil parish in the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. It is south-west of Sunderland city centre. It has a population of 33. At the 2011 Census the population remained less than 100. Details were included ...
, which lies above sea level, the route was worked as a rope-incline with stationary engines until 1864.[ By 1860, the Lambton was the largest of all the colliery railways in the northeast, totalling across its mainline and branches alone some of track.][ Still mainly rope-incline worked and developed from original horse-drawn tramways, in the next 20 years it was reengineered to be mainly steam locomotive powered.][
In 1854 the North Eastern Railway was formed, which gave it control of the mainline from Darlington to Newcastle via the Leamside Line. In 1865, the NER opened a branch from to ]Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
, which brought about a running-rights agreement between the Lambton and the NER to allow the company to run its trains over NER metals when required. This resulted in the company buying a new series of 0-6-0 tender locomotives to power these heavier mainline trains.
After Lambton Collieries merged with Hetton Collieries in 1911, the company gained control over the Hetton Railway, which was surveyed and laidout by George Stephenson
George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...
from 1822 primarily for the use of steam locomotives. This was still mainly a rope-incline railway, which was made redundant through access to the Lambton Railway. The company did however additionally connect Lambton staithes to the Hetton staithes within the docks.[
In 1924 after the merger with Joicey Collieries, the company gained control of the Beamish Railway, although this remained a separate operation.
In 1959 the Hetton Railway via Warden Law was closed. A further spate of closures occurred in 1967 with Lambton Staithes being closed in January and the line to Pallion closing in August of the same year.]
Collieries
References
{{reflist
External links
Lambton Collieries at the Durham Mining Museum
Lambton Locomotives Trust
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1820
Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 1947
Companies based in County Durham
Coal companies of England
Private companies limited by guarantee of England
Defunct mining companies of the United Kingdom
History of County Durham
Mining in County Durham
Defunct companies of England
Energy companies established in 1820
Energy companies disestablished in 1947
1820 establishments in England
1947 disestablishments in England
British companies disestablished in 1947
British companies established in 1820
Defunct energy companies of the United Kingdom